Peace and War

“Virtual JFK” a film exploring the possible fate of Vietnam if Kennedy had lived, will be showing at Vinegar Hill Theatre on March 21 and 22 at 2:00 p.m. ONLY. Here’s a statement from the director, Koji Masutani:

From one end of the globe to another, across one sector to another we face crisis. From the global economy to international menaces, the President must lead the U.S. through thickets that involve complex and difficult challenges.

In matters of international affairs, how read more

Six Years of Illegal War: Demand Accountability

We are fast approaching the end of the sixth year since the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and seven and a half in Afghanistan. There has been no accountability for the criminals who launched these wars of aggression. The current congress and president are continuing both and escalating one.

But awareness and public pressure continue to grow, as does the possibility of criminal prosecution for some of the war crimes. Over 150 groups are asking read more

March 19, 2009, 5:30 p.m., Kanawha Plaza, Richmond, Virginia

We will gather in downtown Richmond to mark the 6th anniversary of the occupation of Iraq, with an action and rally to express support for a major shift in our country’s priorities.

The sponsoring coalition aims to draw attention to bloated U.S. spending on war and foreign occupations at this time of severe economic crisis.

The coalition calls for:

• Deep cuts in military spending and real funding for jobs, housing, schools, health read more

Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox Green 960 online and on radio!
Donate to Keep your Soapbox on the air! http://www.green960.com
This Sunday (the 8th, from 2-3pst), Cindy chats with super-activist,
David Swanson from After Downing Street Coalition
and
ProsecuteBushCheney.org

Cindy and David talk about the urgency of keeping the anti-war and pro-justice movements alive!

Let’s Jam up the War Machine!

Don’t forget to reserve your tickets for Let’s Jam Up the War Machine! on Thursday, March read more

If you are in agreement with this statement, please make a copy of it, sign it, and send it to the White House and your representatives in Congress. This is a critical time to weigh in. Putting this in the regular mail, as opposed to email, can give it more political weight. It is more effort, but it is worth it.
___________

On February 27, 2009, President Barack Obama outlined “a new strategy to end the war in Iraq through a transition to full Iraqi responsibility.”

The words “end the war read more

142 Organizations Agree With Leading Senators and Congress Members: The Crimes of Bush, Cheney, and Other Top Officials Must Be Prosecuted

Statement on Prosecution of Former High Officials

We urge Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a non-partisan independent Special Counsel to immediately commence a prosecutorial investigation into the most serious alleged crimes of former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Richard B. Cheney, the attorneys formerly employed by the Department of read more

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6944

Organizations and individuals can add their names to this statement at http://prosecutebushcheney.org

Statement on Prosecution of Former High Officials

We urge Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a non-partisan independent Special Counsel to immediately commence a prosecutorial investigation into the most serious alleged crimes of former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Richard B. Cheney, the attorneys formerly employed by the Department of Justice whose memos sought to justify read more

SUMMARY OF PRELIMINARY MEMORANDUM OF THE JUSTICE ROBERT H. JACKSON CONFERENCE ON FEDERAL PROSECUTION OF WAR CRIMINALS

Propelling prisoners’ heads into concrete walls by means of towels wrapped around their necks, savage beatings with fists and rifles that left prisoners crippled, hanging prisoners by the arms with their arms strung up behind them, depriving prisoners of sleep for weeks on end, which has been thought the worst torture possible for 500 years, causing prisoners to freeze — read more

Dear UFPJ Member Groups:
Here’s Weekly Action Bulletin No. 2!
Contents:

* Security without Empire: National Organizing Conference on Foreign Military Bases February 27 – March 2, 2009: Do it.
* Code Pink’s: Gaza Briefing and Aid Delegation: Do it.
* Courage to Resist: National Week of Letter-Writing for War Resisters, March 16 – 23, 2009: read more

Join the United for Peace and Justice Working Group on Accountability and Prosecution, and join United for Peace and Justice.

By David Swanson

Peace and justice activists in Virginia’s Fifth District were thrilled last November when we and our neighbors replaced Congressman Virgil Goode with Tom Perriello. We got together and held a couple of meetings to discuss what we might begin talking with the new congressman-elect about. On February 17th we finally met with him. This brief report may prove somewhat useful to others meeting with their representatives and senators, and I’ve included links to useful read more

Join the United for Peace and Justice Working Group on Accountability and Prosecution:
http://unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=4024

and join United for Peace and Justice:
http://unitedforpeace.org/article.php?list=type&type=18

The UFPJ Working Group on Accountability and Prosecution works to achieve accountability and prosecution of high officials guilty of war crimes, including the supreme crime of aggressive war.

It is imperative that we prevent future wars and that we reestablish the rule read more

If you want to partially redeem yourselves, please use the position you are in to help communicate a message to the country about the danger of letting far worse criminals than yourselves go free. Please publicly appeal to the courts to drop all charges on the grounds that its better to look forward than backwards. Please quote our president.

Nothing has actually changed yet, but the following changes have been promised by UFPJ:

— The Working Group on Accountability and Prosecutions will be permitted to have a listserve and a webpage.
— The Working Group will be permitted to submit items for inclusion in weekly Emails and in stand-alone emergency Emails, and to have someone respond with a yes or a no, and a why or why not.
— The Working Group will either be integrated into the “Yes We Can” campaign read more

United for Peace and Justice, Largest Peace Coalition in U.S., Abandons its Agenda in Order to Avoid Working for Accountability and Prosecutions

At a time when more and more organizations are speaking up for accountability, including AfterDowningStreet, Democrats.com, Progressive Democrats of America, Code Pink, Center for Constitutional Rights, Robert Jackson Steering Committee, National Accountability Network, People for the American Way, American Civil Liberties Union, American Freedom Campaign, read more

By David Swanson

I’ve only read a fraction of the books written on the war/occupation of Iraq, and even those are a large pile. It’s tough to choose the best one, but one of the most readable and informative has got to be “Red Zone: Five Bloody Years in Baghdad,” by Oliver Poole. This is also perhaps the book most likely to engage war supporters and make them think without being didactic and without pulling any punches.

The title is accurate enough, but the book describes read more

By David Swanson

Some months back, United for Peace and Justice held a big conference in Chicago for three days, and hundreds of us from all over the country spent most of those three days voting on the language to go in the documents that would determine what UFPJ would work on in the coming year and a half, especially the program document. In past years, I hadn’t bothered to push for inclusion of accountability, but this year I did. (In the past UFPJ would refuse to work on things that read more

By David Swanson

I wrote recently about the possibility of outgrowing the use of war. Today I got a book in the mail that makes a strong argument intended as a tool for ending war. The book is called “Will War Ever End: A Soldier’s Vision of Peace for the 21st Century” by Captain Paul K. Chappell, U.S. Army. It’s short, more of a hardcover pamphlet than a book, but it is packed with ideas.

Chappell argues that cooperation, love, and sacrifice for friends and loved ones read more